Agents advice import from china

[morphe]

Hi,

Been a long time since I was last here on these forums.
I have been using a company in yiwu called ejet.

We went to meet them and walked around yiwu market but we thought that the agent who was with us was trying to bump the price up, it happened when the agent said a price and the supplier said a much lower price, the agent nudged the supplier and thought we didn't notice.

Have you heard of this company, we felt a bit put back.

We are also looking for an agent for arts and crafts, toys etc

 

[Maple Sourcing]

I have been to Yiwu market a few times. If you only need to visit the market and choose on-shelf products, you do not really need an agent. Some shop owners speak some English, others may not, but they can easily show you the price on calculator, and trust me, they will understand your simple questions such as QTY, color, cheaper price, lead time, etc.

However, let me remind you, at least per my experiences, majority of products we purchased from the market were with lousy to average quality, minority with good quality, but it took time to find out -- usually after a few bad experiences of trying other suppliers first.

So, if possible, always choose your products from two different suppliers, so you will be able to compare their quality vs price.

Do not try to find out the cheapest price; do not bargain prices too much, or you will get the disappointed quality later on.

 

[Janet & Mel]

Hi I am looking at buying some 30cl candles glasses from Alibaba china, we have had a quote from them with shipping door to door. For a quantity of 500 glasses delivered to us in the uk they quoted $840 for shipping (not the goods). This seems a little steep to me but i am not sure as we have never imported before. Will I also have to pay 20% customs tax too?

 

[betty.wang0601]

Hi Janet, ask yours supplier quote a price, then compare and choose.the supplier always with more experience

 

[Opensourcing.io]

Hi morphe,

I came across this company before, they are our competitors. Normally you should avoid these kinds of supervised trips - suppliers always give a big cut to the agency.

The thing is that they charge 1-5% commission on the project, which is a ridiculously low profit margin.

Lets say you have products cost 1500$, they charge 5% which is 75$.

Their google AdWords campaign itself would cost them at least 1.3pounds per click (I know it) and assuming a 3% conversion rate it would be 1.3/0.03= 43 pounds. Lets say, 50$. 75-50 = 25$ profit per project.... ha-ha-ha.

Summary - they will have the cut from supplier, and they will have profit on their logistics (using their logistics is compulsory).

 

[Import Expert]

Hi I am looking at buying some 30cl candles glasses from Alibaba china, we have had a quote from them with shipping door to door. For a quantity of 500 glasses delivered to us in the uk they quoted $840 for shipping (not the goods). This seems a little steep to me but i am not sure as we have never imported before. Will I also have to pay 20% customs tax too?

Shipping cost will very much depend on size, weight and mode.